West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Almost a year after the Sandeshkhali in the Sundarbans erupted over allegations of land grab and sexual assault allegedly at the behest of local Trinamool Congress leaders, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will visit the island on December 30.
The Chief Minister on Thursday said that she will participate in a government event at Sandeshkhali where she will extend benefits of her government scheme to about 20,000 people in the region.
During the Lok Sabha polls, Ms. Banerjee had said that she will visit the strife torn island after her party wins the Basirhat Lok Sabha seat which comprises Sandeshkhali Assembly seat. Protests at Sandeshkhali had erupted in February 2024, after the local women started protests against local Trinamool Congress leaders accused of land grab and torture. Ms. Banerjee did not visit the area despite the demands by locals that she should give them a hearing. Sheikh Shahjahan, the local Trinamool leader was arrested by the police and remains behind bars since his arrest in February 2024.
“I will visit Sandeshkhali on December 30 to attend a public distribution programme. People had asked me before the elections whether I would visit Sandeshkhali or not. I had told them that I would be going later,” the Chief Minister told journalists at the State Secretariat.
The protests at Sandeshkhali had dominated the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the party had fielded Rekha Patra from Basirhat who was among the women to raise voice against the local Trinamool leaders. The Trinamool Congress had won Basirhat Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 3.33 lakh votes.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that she will visit Gangasagar Island on January 6 and inspect the preparations of the annual religious congregation which is held every year on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. A preparatory meeting on Ganga Sagar Mela has already been conducted by the Chief Minister.
The Trinamool Congress chairperson also said that the proposed Jagannath Temple in the popular coastal town of Digha in Purba Medinipur district will be inaugurated on April 30 next. The West Bengal government has spent over Rs 250 crore for the temple project. Ms. Banerjee said that the proposed Sky Walk at Kalighat temple in Kolkata will also be inaugurated before the first week of February 2025.
Published – December 27, 2024 05:30 am IST
